


Behind The Scenes

by PeppDream (Pep_Pizza)



Category: Dream Team - Fandom, Dreamwastaken, Four Muffinteers, GeorgeNotFound - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), dreamnotfound - Fandom, gream
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Middle School, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Angst, Crushes, Denial of Feelings, Developing Friendships, Did I Mention Angst?, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Gay, LGBTQ Character, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, M/M, Minecraft, Misunderstandings, Oblivious, So much angst, Teasing, Third Wheels, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, dreamnotfound, this might not be a happy ending depending on how you look at it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27449698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pep_Pizza/pseuds/PeppDream
Summary: Dream and George are perfect for each other. They're just meant to be.Everyone says that. Everyone agrees with that.But what about the one who's been there ever since the beginning?...what about Sapnap?
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), dreamnotfound - Relationship
Comments: 249
Kudos: 317





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> (Sorry if the summary causes confusion - it uses persona names, but this fic will purely use real names)
> 
> This is a dreamnotfound fic, yes. But I write this with the intention of looking from another perspective, or what's going on "behind the scenes," you might say. Tags should explain everything.
> 
> And if you are uncomfortable with shipping, well, I advise not reading lol ^^  
> A bit different from my usual style of magic-centered fics, but I hope you'll love it all the same! I hope you enjoy~

Nick’s known Clay since… forever.

Though, they weren’t always on good terms from the beginning, even though they lived in the same neighborhood. Nick didn’t like Clay much at first. He was that one bratty kid that always acted like he was good at everything, and then _would_ actually turn out to be the best at everything, and it was just annoying. Him and his stupid grin that always drove other boys nuts… it was the most irritating thing in the _world_.

One would think Clay should have a weakness, because obviously no one’s _perfect_ , but Nick sure as hell hadn’t found it yet. 

Most kids don’t like to play with Clay because he always wins at everything, but Nick was a competitive spirit. Clay might like winning, but Nick liked winning _more_. Whether it be a jumping contest, a water-gun fight, or something as simple as a game of chess, Nick strove to win.

“Checkmate,” Clay would announce, moving his winning piece into position.

“I won,” he’d smirk, having jumped a distance farther than Nick.

“Better luck next time,” he’d laugh, when Nick had tripped over a stupid rock and fallen face-first into the grass during a jump-rope contest.

Most kids give up, once they’ve played with Clay for long enough to realize they’re just not up to par. Nick never gave up though. He wanted the golden-haired kid to know what he was made of, wanted to _prove_ himself, so he suffered trial after trial, underwent loss after loss, until he could become as good as Clay.

The first time Nick won against Clay (in a game of checkers, actually), he had smirked triumphantly, teasingly clinking the pile of Clay’s defeated pieces. “You lost,” he had bragged, expecting a crying fit from the other. Surely, Clay would be upset. Nick broke the know-it-all’s winning streak after all.

But to his surprise, Clay had only beamed. “Again,” he said, much to Nick’s confusion, “I’ll beat you this time.”

Clay was right, and Nick lost. And he lost every game after that. Nick quickly realized that, when most kids went up against Clay, he wasn’t even _trying_ when he fought back. When Clay was focused, he was on a whole other level. People told Nick he was kidding himself, thinking he could become as good as Clay.

But Nick didn’t mind. That day where Clay had suffered his first loss, Nick had realized what kind of person Clay was. And he was going to do his best to keep fighting until they were on the same level, and Clay would finally see him as an equal.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“A _HA!_ ” Nick had cheered triumphantly, “I beat you AGAIN!”

Clay had rolled his eyes, waving his hand dismissively. “You just got lucky, Nick. Let’s rematch.”

The two are hanging out at Clay’s house, sprawled across the carpeted floor. They actually spend a lot of time together outside of school, though it has a lot to do with Nick constantly asking for rematches. Clay’s mom doesn’t seem to mind too much though, since she always welcomes Nick when he comes to play with Clay.

“There’s no _luck_ in Connect Four,” Nick had snorted, releasing the pieces from the stand, “You’re just a sore loser because you _lost_ to _skill_.”

At that, Clay had smirked. “Funny of you to say, seeing you only win about 30% of our matches…”

“ _Hey_ ,” Nick had sputtered indignantly, “I win at _least_ 50% of the time!”

“Whatever makes you feel better about yourself,” Clay had snickered, starting the game off with a piece in the center. True to his word, Nick finds himself losing one match. Then another. And another.

“This _always_ happens,” Nick growls, secretly frustrated at himself. Whenever he got full of himself, his performance would get worse. It was a hard habit to fix, with how euphoric beating Clay made him feel.

Clay wheezes a little at Nick’s pained expression. “Told you,” he says knowingly. “All you have is luck.”

“Then I must be the only kid in the neighborhood with it,” Nick replies, “Since I’m the only one who wins against you.”

Clay shrugs. “I’m just going easy on you.”

And that… that was definitely a lie. Clay had stopped going easy on Nick a long time ago, and that’s one thing Nick has learned to like about the freckled kid, since it made every win all the more exhilarating.

“Hey,” Nick suddenly starts, “Are you coming to the pool party tomorrow?”

Clay tilts his head curiously. “What party?”

“Zak invited a bunch of kids in the neighborhood over,” Nick explains, “There’s gonna be water balloons, water-gun flights, popsicles, you know.”

Clay hums, idly playing with a game piece between his fingers. “Dunno. Not that interested.”

“Oh.” Nick is a little disappointed. “Why?”

“I don’t know anyone,” Clay replies simply, finishing his turn. 

“ _I’ll_ be going,” Nick emphasizes.

But Clay only gives him an amused look. “Tempting, but not enough.”

Nick sighs, knowing he’s not going to get through to him. “You don’t have any _friends_ , Clay, I’m trying to _help_ you out here—”

“I know,” Clay cuts him off, “But, I’m fine, really. I have you and Darryl, don’t I?”

Nick pauses just before ending his turn. “...the highschool kid?”

“Yup.”

“Why do you hang out with _him?_ ”

“He’s a nice guy,” Clay defends, “and a good sport. It’s fun playing with him.”

It’s so weird, that Clay can’t make more friends from his own age group. Nick almost feels bad for Clay. _Almost_. He supposes there’s something that separates Clay from everyone else, and that’s what prompts others to keep their distance. Or something. Hell if he knows. 

“You’re so weird,” is Nick’s reply, to which Clay only chuckles.

“And you’re friends with me, so what does that make you?”

“Your best friend,” Nick jokes, “obviously.”

But to his surprise, Clay nods. “Yup.”

“Oh,” Nick blinks, wondering if he’s now obligated to say it back. Because it’s true, isn’t it? So many times, he cancels plans with his friends just so he can get his ass whooped by Clay. If that didn’t make him his best friend, Nick didn’t know _what_ would. “You’re my best friend, too.”

Clay snorts at that. “Ooo Nick, you’re getting cheesy on me?”

Nick groans. “Clay, you _suck._ ”

In response, Clay slides in the piece he was holding to complete a connect-4. “What were you saying?”

“I hate you.”

But Clay just laughs. “Nah,” he sing-songs, “You love me~”

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“Why do we share almost all the _same classes_ ,” Clay deadpans.

“Dunno,” Nick replies, but that’s a complete lie, because he knows _exactly_ why their electives are the same, and it has a lot to do with needing to be on par with everything Clay does. Not that Nick’s going to admit it or anything.

“And the same clubs,” Clay adds, frown deepening, but Nick just shrugs.

“What about it?”

Clay shakes his head in disbelief. “Do you even _like_ computer science?” He prods Nick with a raised eyebrow, “I’ve never even heard you talk about it before.”

“I don’t need to be _interested_ in something to want to try it out,” is Nick’s evasive reply.

“Well…” Clay still seems unsure about Nick’s reasoning, but he doesn’t push it. “I guess that’s good for you, then.”

For a moment, Nick is confused. Did Clay know? “What do you mean?”

The blonde gives a cheeky grin. “If you’re struggling with something, you can come to me for help.

The nervousness fades away, and Nick snorts. “Yeah, as _if_. _You’re_ going to be the one coming to _me_ for help.”

“Big words for someone who’s never coded before.”

“I’m a _fast learner,_ okay.”

“We’ll see about that,” Clay had smirked in reply.

(Needless to say, Nick does not learn quickly. He does _not_ go to Clay for help though, because his pride is on the line, and doing so would erase whatever small trace of dignity he has left.)

Unlike Clay though, Nick actually has friends, so. He’ll just ask around and figure shit out. It’s not that hard.

Nick was going to beat Clay at everything (and that _included_ coding), no matter what.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“ _C’mere, Nick!_ ”

“Fuck _off_ , Clay!” Nick shouts at his screen, trying in vain to get his pursuer off his tail, “Don’t _fucking_ kill me!”

“You can’t just _take_ my iron and think you’ll get away with it~!” Clay cackles from his end of the call. Nick whirls his character around and tries to get a few hits in, but it’s obviously a mistake since Clay has a goddamn _diamond axe_ and, within seconds, Nick had been crit to death.

“CLAY!”

“ _Don’t_ take my iron again, Nick.”

“But _I_ mined it, it’s technically _my_ iron, and you just _stole_ it.”

Clay just wheezes, much to Nick’s annoyance. The idiot is even better at _minecraft_ than him, even though Nick’s played it for longer, and it was honestly starting to get pretty ridiculous. Was Clay not bad at _anything?_ Just what the fuck was he?

“Give me back my iron, Clay.”

“Fine, fine,” he finally relents, still laughing slightly. “Oh, Darryl’s online right now. Is it okay if he joins us?”

“Whatever,” Nick replies, having finally returned to the place where he died to pick up his stuff and the iron ore Clay had dropped.

Nick has never actually _met_ Darryl in person before, so he’s pleasantly surprised when he hears the guy’s voice for the first time.

“Hey guys!” Darryl greets, his character appearing over the horizon. “What’re you guys up to?”

“Just mining iron,” Clay responds.

“More like _stealing_ iron,” Nick cuts him short.

“Ooo,” Darryl hums interestedly, “You are…?”

“That’s Nick,” Clay answers, “He’s the best friend.”

“Oh!” Darryl’s character walks in front of Nick’s, and he jumps and crouches as a greeting. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you Nick.”

Nick is kind of taken aback by how much _younger_ Darryl sounds compared to them, but he tries his best to hide his surprise. “Um… yeah, you too.”

“Oh, and another thing,” Clay chuckles, “No more swearing starting now, Nick.”

Nick blinks, confused at the sudden demand. “Well, why the fuck not?” He replies, as a way of messing with Clay, but—

“Oh my goodness, LANGUAGE.”

“That’s why,” Clay laughs.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“Nick.”

“What?” Nick asks, turning his head at the prompt, only to be reminded with the awful reality that Clay is starting to grow taller than him. They used to be around the same height, but of _course_ Clay wins at everything including height, so. It looked like this would be a loss in Nick’s department.

“Next year,” Clay continues, “we won’t be able to walk home together like this.”

“Oh.” Nick immediately understands what Clay is talking about. Because they’re in different grades, Clay will head off to highschool a year earlier than him. “Yeah, I guess so. Why’re you mentioning this now?”

Clay smirks a little. “Just making sure you won’t miss me too much,” he replies.

“Nah, you’re going to miss _me_ ,” Nick shoots back.

“Maybe,” Clay replies mysteriously.

“Why are we even talking about this? We literally _live_ in the same neighborhood. We can still see each other every day, can’t we?”

“That’s true,” Clay muses, his expression thoughtful. “Just, I might be busy, Nick. I don’t know. Life happens sometimes.”

“Dude, it’s only like, a _year_ ,” Nick playfully punches Clay’s arm. “It’s not even that long. We’ll both be in the same school again before you even know it.”

That makes Clay smile. “Hm, I guess that means I’ll be waiting for you then?”

“Just a year,” Nick promises.

“Just a year,” Clay repeats after him.

But little did Nick know, a _lot_ could change in the span of a single year. And it was in that single year, that _everything changed_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So funny thing about age differences, is that if you try to incorporate them into a school-setting... they'll all be in different grades! Big surprise there...
> 
> To minimize their separation while keeping true to their ages, I've decided on something like this: Darryl and George are in the same year (Darryl is still older), Clay is a year younger than them, and Nick is a year younger than Clay.  
> Hope that clears some stuff up!


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick learns to share.

“Who’s _he?_ ”

“Nick,” Clay introduces, “This is George. I met him through Darryl, and we all take computer science together.”

“George” grins a little, offering a shy wave. Compared to Nick, George is a lot lankier, and he’s about an inch shorter than Nick as well (which was a relief, even if Nick wouldn’t say it aloud). If Nick were being honest, he isn’t really sure why George is here. He thought it was just going to be the three of them eating lunch together: him, Clay, and Darryl. 

“Nick,” Clay snorts, “At least _say_ something.”

“Um, hello,” Nick manages. 

Clay nods once in satisfaction, and then turns to George. “George, meet Nick. He’s one of my best friends from middle school.”

But Nick immediately catches the suspicious wording. _“One of ”_...? It could’ve just been a slip of the tongue, but Nick isn’t sure. Had Clay already found new best friends? 

Just how much had changed in a year?

“It’s nice to meet you too,” the George kid greets.

“Hey guys!” Darryl’s voice appears from the crowd, and he pops in at their lunch table. Nick already knows what he looks like, since they’d all hung out together once at Clay’s on his birthday. Darryl was a nice guy. He liked to bake muffins and spoil his dogs with treats. Anyone that was kind to animals was a good guy in Nick’s eyes.

But Nick still has no idea who George is.

“Why’re we all just standing around,” Clay snorts. “Come on, let’s actually _eat_ our food.”

The lunch table is circular in shape, so the seats are only available in pairs. Nick takes a seat and, for a second, he wonders if Clay will sit next to Darryl. What if Darryl was the new best friend? What if he chose Darryl over Nick?

But Nick’s fears subside when Clay sits next to him. Which is weird. Why does it even matter? Obviously, George is Darryl’s friend, so those two are going to sit next to each other. Obviously.

“So George,” Nick started before he could stop himself, “Have you won against Clay yet?”

George blinks across from him, looking confused. “At what?”

At this, Clay gives a small wheeze. “Nick’s just _obsessed_ with winning against me—” he starts to explain.

“I am _not_ obsessed with you.” Nick cuts him off.

“...That’s _not_ what I said,” Clay wheezes harder.

“But winning against you,” George repeats, “At _what?_ ”

“At _everything_ , George.”

George, still looking bewildered, turns to Darryl, who only shrugs in response. “I don’t know either, the muffins go a long way back.”

For some reason, that makes Nick happy. He and Clay were childhood friends, after all. They just had a connection that was _different_. And even if a year had gone by with them in different schools, nothing about that relationship would change.

“Just play chopsticks with him,” Nick smirks knowingly. “You’re not gonna get a win rate above 10%.”

Clay gasps in mock annoyance. “Nick! How am I supposed to _eat?_ ”

“It’s okay,” Nick snickers, “I’ll feed you.”

George blinks, still looking shocked at Nick’s proposal. “You’re _joking_.”

“Just try it,” Nick promises. “You’d be surprised.”

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

So, telling George about Clay’s 100% win-rate might not have been the best decision.

Nick’s gotta admit that he has to give George some credit — the dude is _persistent_. Every spare second he has, George spends on trying to pick a fight with Clay (“Clay, let’s see who can drink this juice box faster.” “Clay, fight me in Double-Up-7 again.” “I bet I could stand on my head longer than you, Clay.”). And, well, it’s always a losing battle. Which is no surprise, really, seeing that literally no one _except_ Nick wins against Clay in the first place.

Nick can’t really blame him; as a kid, he was like that too. At first, it was just wanting to beat Clay once. And then it was wanting to win twice in a row, and then it was wanting to get a 50% win-rate, and so on. He didn’t want to stop fighting until he could surpass Clay. Even if Clay was now too busy accepting George’s challenges to pay attention to Nick, he didn’t really mind. George was just in a phase right now. Surely, it’d go away eventually.

But the _problem…_ was that _George was really shit at games._

“You literally _suck_ ,” Nick had growled after George lost to Clay at chopsticks for like, the twentieth time this week. At least Nick _learned_ when he lost, and used that information to get better. George, on the other hand, wasn’t improving his skills at _all_. Just _watching_ them play against each other was giving him a migraine.

“ _Clay_ ,” Darryl sighs exasperatedly, “You should just let him win _once_.”

“Nah,” is Clay’s reply. Nick expected as much — that’s just who Clay is. He doesn’t go easy on _anyone_.

“This is so un _fair_ ,” George had whined, “Clay is just too _good_ at the game.”

“Then let me show you how it’s done,” Nick had offered, facing Clay with his two pointer fingers ready, but Clay only snorts.

“Nick, you _know_ I’m better at this game than you are.”

That much was true. In most games against Clay, Nick had cut down his losses down to a 50%, but chopsticks was one of those things that teetered around the 60% range. Nick knows there’s a certain pattern in chopsticks that, when memorized, would create a loop that’d lead him to victory. He hadn’t quite memorized it yet, but… “I feel good about this one,” is Nick’s reply.

“If you say so,” Clay had shrugged, making the first move. Nick was pretty sure he could win. He’d literally watched _twenty games_ of chopsticks being played, so _surely_ he could be considered a tactical expert by now.

But Nick promptly made a fool of himself, by losing. “I’m out of practice—” He’d started to say, but George was too busy laughing his ass off to listen to him. 

“ _‘Let me show you how it’s done’_ ,” George mocks, before bursting back into laughter.

“That was just _one_ game,” Nick retorts, feeling slightly embarrassed. “Clay, again.”

“ _Nick_ ,” Clay had wheezed, “I literally haven’t even _touched_ my food yet—”

“Then get Darryl to feed you,” Nick persists, poking Clay in the shoulder with his pointer fingers. “Come on, come on, I need to _reclaim_ my _dignity_ —”

“ _Fiiiinne_ ,” Clay responds, tapping Nick’s finger with one of his own. “But this is the last one.”

“Um,” Darryl speaks up, looking confused, “Do I actually…?”

Before Nick can clarify he was joking, George quickly stands and interrupts him, “I’ll do it.”

“ _George_ ,” Clay snickers, “What do you _mean?_ ”

“I’m going to feed you, like Nick said.” 

“But—”

Irritation is prickling under Nick’s skin. “It’s your turn, Clay.”

“Open wide~” George grins.

Clay looks nonplussed, but he nonetheless opens his mouth, and Nick watches as he accepts a bite of his lunch. George is beaming at the successful delivery. And Nick is trying to focus on the game, but he’s distracted. He’s so distracted. But who wouldn’t be, watching your opponent getting fed by another person?

Needless to say, he loses the second round as well.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“NICK. Stop _chasing_ me!”

“ _Come back, George~!_ ” Nick cackles, pursuing George’s character as it scampers across the field. 

Clay groans. “Stop FIGHTING, you two—”

“It’s not my _fault_ , Nick keeps trying to _kill me!_ ”

And eh, Nick could try to deny it all he wanted, but it was pretty much true. While he, Clay, and Darryl were all practiced minecraft players, George was sort of a step below them. He wasn’t a _bad_ player, just… a _badder_ player, if that made sense. He’s just such a defenseless little squirt, it’s so hard to _not_ want to attack him.

“ _Nick_ ,” Clay uses his warning tone, “Stop chasing George.”

So Nick stops (but only because he knows he can’t win against Clay in a pvp). “You may have gotten away this time,” he teases threateningly, “But I’ll get you next time~”

“You two are like _kids_ ,” Clay comments, “Always _fighting_ each other.”

“Then,” Darryl inserts, “Clay, does that make you the dad…?”

A beat of silence. “WHAT. _No_.”

Nick howls in laughter at the suggestion. “Oh my god, _yessss._ Clay, should I call you Daddy from now on—”

“NO,” Clay cuts him short, “ _Anything_ but that.”

Nick can hear George giggling too. “Okay then, step-Clay…”

Nick bursts into another fit of laughter as he listens to his blonde friend sputter in more incoherent phrases. “GEORGE! What the _fuck_.”

“LANGUAGE!”

Now both Nick _and_ George are uncontrollably giggling, filling the voice-call with peals of laughter. “Holy shit,” Nick wheezes, “ _Geoooorge,_ that was so good—”

“That was fucking _hilarious_ —”

“Oh my— language! _Language!_ ” Darryl sighs. 

“You two are ridiculous,” Clay huffs, punching both Nick and George’s characters several times. “You guys are so _dumb_.”

“But we’re still _your_ dumb friends,” Nick chuckles, and he can almost _hear_ Clay’s eye-roll through the Skype call.

“Then I have the _dumbest_ best friends,” Clay concludes, starting to chase after George’s character with a diamond axe, but at that moment, Nick pauses. Clay’s words register, and he suddenly understands.

George was the other best friend.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“You’re so _lucky_ , Nick.”

Nick raises his eyebrows, wondering what George is going on about. They’re both the only ones currently sitting at their lunch table, since the others hadn’t arrived yet. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” George continues, fiddling with his lunchbox, “You’re funny. And smart. And… you can actually _win_ against Clay, and he’s a literal _genius_ at everything. How is that fair?”

And Nick blinks, because he’s surprised that George feels that way. “I… huh. Well, to be honest, I haven’t _always_ been on Clay’s level.”

“You… haven’t?”

Nick shakes his head. “I was like you too, George. I lost every game to him. Everyone did. You… you don’t need to feel bad about it.”

“But…” George looks up then, his eyes wide. “You can beat him _now_.”

“It took me a lot of practice,” Nick shrugs. “We’ve been friends since 13, George. If I couldn’t win some games against him after knowing him for that long, there’d be something wrong with me.”

George chuckles a little at that. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“If anything,” Nick snorts, “ _Clay_ is the unfair one.”

“ _Right?_ ” George groans, “Seriously, he’s _impossible_. You know that look he gives, when you think you’re about to win, but he just pulls out a _secret tactic_ from his ass—”

“Uh, _yeah_ ,” Nick agrees, “Or when you ask for a rematch, and he just _wheezes_ like it’s a fucking joke or something—”

“He _always_ does that,” George complains exasperatedly, “Like, even when you make a stupid move, he makes it _obvious_ that you’ve done something wrong—”

“And he even _fakes it_ sometimes, to make us _doubt ourselves_ —”

“He’s like, the _master_ of faking things, like, have you _seen_ his poker face—”

“I _have_ , it’s literally _emotionless_ —”

“Are you two talking about me?” Clay’s voice suddenly appears, and both Nick and George’s heads snap towards the question.

“Um—” George starts, at the same time Nick goes “Well—” and then they just look at each other and, somehow, the awkward bubble finally pops and they just burst into laughter, garnering a fair share of strange looks from nearby students.

An amused expression appears on Clay’s face. “You two were bonding without me, huh?”

“Oh _yeah_ ,” Nick grins cheekily, “Me and Georgie were just having the _best time ever._ ”

“Aww,” George coos, “you’re feeling left out, Clay?”

“You _wish_ ,” the blonde snorts.

The laughter from earlier still hasn’t quite subsided yet, and Nick finds himself giggling throughout lunch, even after Darryl arrives. Clay keeps giving him confused looks, but whenever Nick establishes eye contact with George, they just burst into giggles all over again.

George was okay. Nick didn’t see what was so great about him at first, but he realizes now that George is good in his book. After all, they both survived through Clay’s bullshit, didn’t they? If doing so made Nick worthy of being Clay’s friend, it would make George worthy of the title too.

Since it’s George, Nick guesses he’s okay with sharing Clay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KEEP writing Nick as SAPNAP  
> (Am so NOT used to using his real name...)


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It stops being a matter of sharing.

Then, strange things started to happen.

The first strange thing happened in computer science. Everyone had to work in pairs for their next coding project, so of course the first thing Nick thought was _I’ll team up with Clay_. It was an instant thought, without need for consideration. Whenever they were in the same class, they’d always work together — it was as simple as that.

So when the teacher lets them go off to find their partners, Nick immediately locates Clay and starts to head over, only to stop in his tracks. Clay is already sitting next to George, suggestively elbowing him in the side, clearly an invitation to team up. George is smiling nervously, but he shows no sign of rejecting the proposal.

When Nick approaches them, Clay looks up and waves. “You’re too late, Nick. George is stealing me for this one.”

“Wow,” Nick mouths, continuing with an act of dramatic flair, “ _George_ , I can’t believe you’d _do_ this to me— how _could_ you.”

George begins to sputter in denial, but Clay just laughs. “He’s _joking_ , George.”

“I— I _know_.”

“Hey Nick,” Darryl pops up to the side, “We could partner up, if that’s cool with you…?”

“Um, yeah, sure,” Nick accepts the offer, honestly feeling a little weird about it. It wasn’t because he thought Darryl would be a _bad_ partner or anything, it was just, Nick was so _used to_ pairing up with Clay that doing anything else was just _strange_.

He kind of wonders if it was too much of him to just _assume_ Clay would pick him. It was just such an instinctive decision, Nick hadn’t even considered that Clay wouldn’t think the same. Maybe he should’ve established eye-contact with him the moment the teacher mentioned pairing up. Would that have changed anything?

“Do you have any ideas for the project?”

Nick casts a side-long glance at Clay and George. They’re already discussing animatedly, laughing and pushing each other when one of them says something stupid. They look… happy. “Not really,” Nick finally replies, turning back to Darryl. “You?”

“I think I have a _little_ something in mind.”

Nick swallows the strange feeling in his gut. He’s not used to this, but he thinks — no, he _knows_ — he can learn. “Then let’s start working, I guess.” 

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

The second strange thing happened a few days later. Usually, Nick and George were always the first to arrive at their lunch table, quickly followed by Clay who'd sit next to Nick, and always joined last by Darryl who'd sit next to George. That day though, Nick had stayed behind to talk to his teacher about an assignment he’d missed, so he had left his class a little later than usual.

When he got to their lunch table, he was met with the sight of Clay and George sitting next to each other.

“What’s going on here?” Nick had asked casually, plopping himself down next to Darryl. This was weird. Was this weird? Nick wasn’t sure.

“George needs help with his math homework,” Clay answers, poking George’s cheek with the eraser of his pencil, “since he sucks at it.”

“I do _not._ ”

“Yeah? Then write down the derivative of this equation.”

George glares at him, which only causes Clay to smirk back at him. Nick watches this exchange with a mix of confusion and… something else. He hasn’t quite figured out what it is yet, but it sits at the bottom of his gut, swirling uncomfortably.

“Isn’t George like, a grade above you?” he asks.

“Yeah, but we’re in the same calc class,” Clay replies.

“They’re both really smart,” Darryl huffs, sounding defeated. “I’m only in pre-calc.”

Nick can’t even argue against that. Clay _was_ ridiculously smart, if his dumb win-streak wasn’t enough to prove that already. What Nick hadn’t known though, was that George was apparently _just_ as smart as Clay. Which was super weird? Granted the guy literally has the mind of a _boiled egg_ whenever he picks fights with Clay.

Nick clicks his tongue, unsure what to feel. “Guess you’re a pretty smart guy yourself, aren’t you George?”

George cracks a smile, looking shy. “I— I dunno. I guess?”

“You _are_ smart, George,” Clay supports reassuringly. “You just need some help sometimes.”

“Aww,” Darryl coos, looking pleased with Clay’s reply. “Well, Clay is right, George. You need to believe in yourself more!”

“Um,” George’s eyes flicker around the table, and he giggles. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“That’s the spirit,” Darryl hums.

So Nick obediently eats his lunch, watching as Clay explains concepts to George, interrupting every now and then to add a witty comment. It’s a shame though, that he can’t understand _anything_ the two are saying to each other. What the hell were antiderivatives? And limits? And differential equations? Nick’s only in Algebra II, so he hasn’t got the foggiest clue what’s going on. He can’t help but feel slightly left out, once again silently cursing the age gap between them that was the cause of their grade separation.

So as lunch drags on, Nick becomes quieter and quieter, the swirling in his gut only becoming stronger with every laugh shared between the two friends.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“ _Oh George~_ ”

A sigh. “What is it Clay—” a pause. “Clay?”

Nick glances up from his assignment, and does a double-take. Clay is standing there with a stupid grin on his face, a bouquet of pretty lilies in his hands. And he’s facing George, his arm outstretched.

“What the fuck,” Nick mouths, not even caring that they’re in the middle of a library, because where the _fuck_ did Clay magically conjure a literal _bouquet of flowers??_

George starts giggling as he accepts the flora. “Clay! What _is_ this?”

“Flowers,” Clay responds cheekily, which earns him a half-hearted push from George.

“No, I mean, _why?_ What’s the occasion?”

Clay snickers. “ _George_ , don’t tell me you don’t know? It’s _valentine’s day!_ ”

“What the _fuck_ ,” Nick repeats, more loudly this time, “Clay! Where’s _my_ flowers?”

Clay just laughs, elbowing him in the side. “But you already know I _loooove_ you—”

“ _What_ ,” Nick scoffs, half in amusement, half in embarrassment, “That’s such a crappy excuse Clay, give me flowers too!”

And his friend just wheezes, tactfully avoiding Nick’s mock punch. “C’mon, George is new to the gang! If we don’t show him some attention, then he might forget we _looove_ him~”

“L- _Love?!_ ” George sputters, turning pink.

“But where’s _my_ attention,” Nick pouts jokingly, and in response, Clay just coos at him.

“Love you, Nick~!”

“Love you too,” Nick rolls his eyes, “Even if you’re dumb and you only gave flowers to _George_.”

“ _Geooorge~_ ” Clay had quickly turned, looking at George expectantly, “I _love_ you~”

“I-I…” George hides his face behind the flowers, “Thank you, Clay.”

“... _George!_ ” Clay laughs, trying to bend the bouquet away from George’s face, “You’re supposed to say it _back_!”

“I… I don’t _feel_ like it,” George stutters in reply, swatting at Clay.

As Nick watches the two bicker, he feels something nagging at him from the pit of his chest. It’s a longing feeling, because when he sees the way Clay looks at George, _always_ looking like he’s waiting for something from the other, Nick feels… envious. He wants Clay to look at him too, and give him gifts, and shower him with attention. Nick wants Clay to look at him, like he’s waiting for him too.

“Break it up, you two,” Nick eventually cuts in, standing between the two. “George doesn’t have to say anything.”

George lets out a visible sigh of relief. “ _Thank_ you, Nick.”

“ _What._ ” Clay puts a hand on his chest in mock betrayal. “Nick, I thought you were on _my_ side…?!”

“I do not condone bribery,” Nick replies, decisively poking the flower’s petals.

“Yeah,” George adds in behind him, a stupid grin on his face, “It’s not right to _buy_ my love, Clay.”

Clay looks between the two of them, before snorting in laughter. “Huh, okay. I guess that means the chocolate I bought is just going to have to go to waste—”

George’s eyes widen. “W-wait—?!” 

“ _Clay!_ ” Nick shouts, “You have _chocolate_?!”

Their friend snickers. “Since you see my thoughtful gifts as only acts of bribery, I’ve no choice but to eat them all myself—”

“No, WAIT,” Nick puts his hands up in surrender, “CLAY, I’ll come back onto your side—”

“CLAY,” George inserts, “SHARING IS CARING.”

And somehow with their combined teamwork, the two of them manage to convince Clay to wrestle out his stash of chocolate and they gorge themselves on sweets. It doesn’t even matter that their noise levels had caused multiple strangers to give them weird looks (since that happens all the time, anyway). Everything feels so normal, so _light_ and fun, that Nick almost forgets what he was worried about in the first place.

Emphasis on the _almost_.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

_Clay is straight, right?_

Nick’s fairly sure that’s true. Even when his friend sometimes makes flirty comments towards Nick or George ( _especially_ towards George), they’re always jokes, him just poking fun at them to watch their reactions. Nick’s pretty sure that’s why Clay flirts with George so much, since the latter is just so _easy_ to rile up. George is just the easiest person in the world to bully. Nick teases George a lot too, usually over minecraft or when the brunet loses a game.

Doesn’t mean that Nick has to like it when Clay does it, though.

It’s pretty obvious that George had become the better best friend. Clay spends all his time looking at George, working with George, playing with George. Nick doesn’t know when it happened, or even _how_ it happened, but one day it just did and Nick couldn’t fix it. He wonders if it’s his fault, if he could’ve done something about it.

“Clay loves me more than you,” George had said one time, purely as a joke, purely as a way to mess with Nick during a minecraft game and nothing more. It had been a harmless jab, but even still, Nick still felt it pierce through him like a dagger. “Clay, who do you love more?”

Nick had waited with bated breath, wondering why he was nervous to hear the answer. Wondering why it even mattered what the answer was, when he already knew it.

There was a fond tone in Clay’s voice as he responded: “You’re obviously tied — I love you both equally.”

“That’s a lie.”

And they’d laughed over it, poking fun at Nick for calling him out like that, but it was all just a joke. They were all friends, it didn’t matter, it didn’t _matter_.

So why does it feel like it matters?

It didn’t even make any sense. Nick knew Clay better, played games better, has been friends with him longer. So… why George? What made him special?

What did he have that Nick didn’t?

Nick doesn’t hate George. He and George are actually good friends, so animosity towards him was just never considered as an option. Nick has long realized that this… this was _jealousy_. Clay was his friend _first_ , so of course it didn’t make sense to him, why Clay always chose George over him. So saying they were tied? It was obviously a lie. So obvious, that Nick sometimes wonders if Clay actually _knows_ , but is only a very good pretender. (All the poker games he’s lost against Clay was surely evidence of that.)

So yes, it’s a relief that Clay likes girls. Nick remembers how the two of them had sat next to each other during recess in middle school, pointing out which girls they thought were pretty or which girls they’d date. It was just a stupid little exercise, but that memory now became Nick’s solace, because now he knew that (in the _very_ least) Clay would not leave Nick for George.

It was kind of a stupid fear to have, but if anyone just _looked_ , and _saw_ the way Clay looked at George… Nick figures anyone would have to agree it was a perfectly reasonable one.

So yeah, Nick had finally found Clay’s weakness. 

...He just wishes that weakness hadn’t been George.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third-wheeling begins.
> 
> I also wanted to include the "Dream!" "George!" "Dream!" "...Sapnap" moment in there, but I couldn't see a way to fit it in so,,, Just imagine it's in there somewhere. :)


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An idea for a prank is conceived.

“Hey Nick,” Clay had approached him one day, an eerily mischievous smile on his face, “I have a really stupid idea.”

“Really?” Despite trying to sound annoyed, Nick feels himself smiling. Clay _always_ has stupid ideas, but that didn’t mean they were any less fun to partake in. “What is it?”

“Pretend to date me,” Clay sniggers. 

Nick blinks several times, the words registering. He looks at Clay like he’s grown a second head. “Um, WHAT.”

“Just pretend to be my boyfriend,” Clay continues nonchalantly, completely ignoring the shocked expression on Nick’s face. “For like, maybe two days?”

“...WHY.”

“Just _imagine_ ,” Clay explains, his hands posed in an excited manner, “How _jealous_ George would get.”

Nick feels a small bubble of disbelief in his chest, but it comes out as a snort. “Uh. _Why_ are we making George jealous?”

“Because it’d be _funny!_ ”

“...That is such a _stupid_ reason,” Nick rolls his eyes, already planning on saying no.

But Clay pulls a pout on him. “ _Niiiick_ , come _on!_ It’s a _great_ idea, can’t you just _picture_ how fun it’d be to mess with George—”

“Well, what are you _suggesting_ we do?” Nick growls, feeling weirdly offended by Clay’s suggestion. “There’s no way we could pull it off convincingly without him getting suspicious—”

“I’ve thought about that,” Clay nods, way too seriously for Nick’s liking, “We won’t need to fake that much. All we have to do is hold hands, and we can play off the lack of non-intimate gestures by claiming we’re ‘sparing George’ from them.”

Nick feels himself hesitating. Oh no. This was such a _terrible_ idea. But… “Is Darryl gonna be in on it?”

“I think he’d give us away,” Clay replies honestly. “I wasn’t planning on it, but…”

“But he’s gonna get traumatized when we tell him it was all just a prank,” Nick finishes. His heart is beating so goddamn fast. Why did Clay’s idea excite him so much? Did he just really want to make a fool out of George? Did he just want to prove to Clay that he was the better friend, actually _willing_ to partake in his practical jokes? Or was there another reason…?

Clay smirks. “Oh, so you’re agreeing to the plan?”

Nick feels himself take a deep breath. You only live once, right? “Fine, yeah,” Nick complies, trying his best not to think too much of it, “Let’s do this.”

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” are Darryl’s first words.

 _Same_ , Nick wants to say, but Clay cuts in first, “ _Why not??_ ”

“I… I dunno,” Darryl admits over the call, sounding a hint nervous, “But I just don’t think you should do it.

“But why _not_ , Darryl.”

“ _Because!_ What if George gets, I don’t know, _traumatized_ from it?”

“It’s just going to be a _joke_ ,” Clay huffs. “Look Darryl, we’re not asking you to _do_ anything. We’re just telling you now so you don’t get surprised when it happens.

“Um…” Darryl sounds hesitant, “Nick? What do you think about this idea?”

“I think it sounds fun,” Nick answers, and honestly, it’s not a lie. It _is_ a really good plan. Just, Nick feels a little odd whenever he imagines carrying it out, but. “George is gonna get _so pranked_.”

Darryl’s sigh carries over the call. “You two muffins are _really_ going to do this?”

“Yes,” Clay answers boldly.

“For how long?”

“I think the agreement was two days,” Nick inserts.

“Yup.”

“...okay,” Darryl finally relents. “If it’s _only_ two days, then… I won’t say anything about it to George.”

“Cool,” Clay hums. “Just try not to give us away, Darryl.”

“ _Me?_ ” Darryl makes a mock sound of indignance. “No no, _you two_ are going to give _yourselves_ away! There’s no way George will actually _believe_ you two are into each other.”

Nick snickers. “C’mon Darryl, have some faith in us! We’re pretty good actors~”

“Hey Nick,” he can hear the teasing smile in Clay’s voice, “You wanna practice?”

“Practice _what_ ,” Nick snorts, “Holding _hands?_ ”

“Oh,” Darryl sounds relieved by that, “You two are just going to hold hands?”

“Well, yeah,” Clay wheezes, “Duh. What were _you_ imagining, Darryl?”

The older sputters, sounding flustered. “I— I don’t _know_ …”

“Was it _kissing,_ Darryl~?”

“N- _no,_ of _course not—!_ ”

“Oh my god, _Darryl!_ ” Nick cackles, nearly falling out of his chair, “I didn’t even know you could _have_ those thoughts!”

“Wh-what’s so bad about _kissing?_ ” Darryl retorts defensively.

“ _Nothing_ , Darryl,” Clay answers, making gross kissing noises over the call, “There’s nothing _bad_ about it—”

“ _Ew!_ ” Nick finds himself shouting at the obscene noises, “Clay, _stop it_ , that’s so _gross_ —”

“ _Niiiick_ don’t say that! You’re supposed to be my _boyfriend_.”

“Eugh—” Nick momentarily loses the ability to say words, a little shocked at the term. “Fucking hell, Clay. Don’t make me _regret_ agreeing to this.”

And his friend just wheezes, sounding delighted. “This is going to be _amazing_ , Nick. I can’t _wait_ to see the look on George’s face when we tell him.”

And strangely enough, Nick found he couldn’t wait either.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“You ready for this?”

“Yup,” Nick nods. He and Clay had agreed to meet outside of the main building beforehand, so that George could spot them as they walked to their lunch table together.

“Give me your hand,” Clay demands. 

Nick swallows, and they carefully join their hands, fingers intertwining. It… was so _weird_ and _unreal_. Staring at their linked hands only makes his brain short-circuit, so he tries his best to look away. As the two walk through the cafeteria together, Nick notices some other students watching them, and he feels his heart uncomfortably ricochet around his chest.

“Nick, your hands are so _sweaty_.”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Nick groans, “I-I’m nervous, okay?”

“Why?” Clay gives a teasing smirk, “Afraid of our friends’ reactions once we tell them we’re dating?”

“You are _so_ dumb,” is all Nick can manage. His arm feels like a dead limb. How hard is he supposed to squeeze? Was hand-holding _supposed_ to feel this warm and cold at the same time? 

“George hasn’t noticed us yet,” Clay whispers.

Nick looks, sees their table. George and Darryl are already seated there, but their attention is turned towards each other. “Then just call out to him, get his attention,” Nick whispers back.

Clay obediently raises his free arm. “Geooorge!”

George’s head snaps up, and a smile lights up on his face. “Oh, hey—” Nick isn’t sure if he imagined it or not, but he _swore_ he saw George’s eyes flicker down to their linked hands for a second, “—guys.”

“What’s up, buddy?” Nick tries to lead a casual conversation as Clay drags him to the table, making their linked hands appear as _obvious as possible_. 

But George — either because he hasn’t noticed or was pointedly ignoring it (Nick wasn’t sure which) — says nothing about their behavior. “Um, it’s been okay, I guess.”

Nick and Clay were seated now, which meant their trap had disappeared under the table. Nick casts a quick panicked glance to Clay, as if asking, _Okay, what now??_ Clay seems to notice Nick’s expression, and he brings out his phone underneath the table in response, pointedly tapping its screen. Nick immediately understands, quickly fetching his own phone from his pockets.

“Have you still been struggling in math?” Darryl asks, giving very pointed, knowing looks in both Nick and Clay’s direction.

“No, not really.”

Quietly grateful that Darryl was there to buy time for them, Nick scrambles to type a message.

_Nick: did he not see us??_

_Clay: im not sure_

_Nick: is the plan doomed?_

_Clay: hmm_

_Clay: wait, im gonna try something_

_Nick: ok… what?_

But Clay doesn’t respond, his attention focused back on the conversation going on above-table. Nick groans inwardly, hoping in vain that it wouldn’t be another stupid idea. His leg jitters against the table leg as he waits, wondering just _when_ Clay will “try something.”

And all of a sudden, it happens. Clay had propped his arm onto Nick’s shoulder and, leaning precariously close to his face, asked, “What do you think, babe?”

By some _goddamn miracle_ , Nick manages to hold a straight face. But it took literally _all_ _his willpower_ , because _what the fuck._ Was _Clay doing._ “Think about what?” he manages.

“About all four of us meeting up,” Clay replies so smoothly and unaffected, that Nick is honestly impressed, “over the summer.”

“We should definitely do that,” Nick answers, casting a side-glance at George. His eyes are trained on them, he’s actively _listening_ in on the conversation, so he _must’ve_ heard Clay’s usage of the pet name. But even still, George doesn’t say _anything_. He just looks on, cheeks kind of pink, holding the most _indiscernible_ expression on his face.

Hm… was that jealousy? Did that count? Nick has _no idea._

Even Darryl, who had literally been _told_ the plan beforehand, sputters in surprise at the usage of the nickname. “U-um, _excuse me?_ Clay, did you just…?”

“Oh yeah,” Clay chuckles, swinging his arm around Nick’s shoulders. Nick feels his heart flare up with excitement. “Did I forget to tell you guys? Nick and I are dating.”

A beat of silence, where Nick holds his breath, trying his best not to give away anything from his expression. He watches as George’s mouth widens into an oval. “You’re joking.”

“Oh my goodness.” Darryl, to his credit, isn’t too bad of an actor. “Um, congratulations?”

“You’re _joking_ ,” George repeats.

“No, really, we’re actually dating!” Clay laughs, turning to Nick with mirth in his eyes. “Isnt that right, Nicky?”

Nick almost _gags_ in surprise at the second nickname, but he holds his expression still. “Don’t make me want to _dump_ you, Clay.”

Clay mock gasps. “You _wouldn’t_.”

“Uh-huh,” George rolls his eyes, “Right. Well, this was really funny guys.”

“ _George!_ ” Clay snorts, “You actually don’t believe us?”

Nick purses his lips, teasingly perching his chin on his hands. “Georgie, we’d never lie to you~”

George pauses, uncertainty flickering in his eyes as he connects the dots. “This is… just some stupid prank, right? I’m not going to fall for it.”

“George,” Clay speaks, his voice quiet, “Are you not happy for us?”

“I’m—” his brows narrow, a flustered expression overtaking his face, “I… need to go use the restroom.”

And before anyone can stop him, he’s bolted from the table, fast-walking to the bathroom. It isn’t until he’s disappeared from the cafeteria that Nick and Clay share a look, and when Clay bursts into laughter, Nick follows suit. Even though he doesn’t think it’s that funny. Even though he can clearly recall the look of fear on George’s face. He pretends it’s hilarious, because it’s _supposed_ to be a prank. It’s just a prank.

“That wasn’t very funny,” Darryl inserts, a concerned frown on his face. 

“I don’t think he actually believed us,” Clay snorts, “so much for the plan. It didn’t even work.”

Nick would want to disagree. He thinks George _did_ believe them, even if his words didn’t convey it. “He’s definitely in denial.”

“Should we keep the act up?” Clay muses, “To mess with him a little more?”

“I don’t think you should,” Darryl cuts in worriedly, starting to stand, “I’m going to find him, and check if he’s okay.”

“Why wouldn’t he be okay?”

Darryl gives Clay a look, but Nick doesn’t quite understand what the look is supposed to mean. “From shock, I dunno.” And then he’s left, swiftly retracing George’s footsteps.

“Hm…” Clay hums thoughtfully. “George will be fine, right? It can’t be _that_ shocking for his two best friends to start dating each other.”

“ _Would it_ , though?” Nick ponders, smirking at the statement. “How would _you_ feel if me and George started dating?”

But Clay just chortles. “Uh, that’s literally _impossible_. You two can never get along. It’d make way more sense if _George_ and I started dating.”

Nick feels his gut tighten in realization. “You’re right,” he says a little bitterly, “I wouldn’t be shocked by that at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a stupid prank.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final stretch.

“George hasn’t arrived yet?” Clay asks when he gets to their table. 

Nick shakes his head. Because of yesterday’s somewhat extreme reaction, the two of them had decided to stop the prank after one day instead of two. “No. He’s been really quiet online too…”

Clay plops himself down, looking vaguely concerned. “He’s not… he’s not actually _that_ affected by our joke, right? It was just a prank.”

“Yeah,” Nick nods, not willing to admit just how much George’s reaction was bothering him. “Just a prank.”

“What’s going on with him?” Clay ponders aloud, “I tried _telling_ him it was a prank over text, but he just never _answered_ any of them.”

“He’s purposefully avoiding us,” Nick summarizes, feeling a little guilty. He shouldn’t have agreed to the prank. They should’ve stopped yesterday, or chased after him like Darryl had.

Clay suddenly stands. “I’m going to look for him.”

“What? _Now?_ Where are you even going to look?”

“I’m the best at everything, remember?” Clay gives a cocky grin, “And that _includes_ hide-and-seek.”

Nick rolls his eyes, his heart tripping over itself at Clay’s smug expression. “You are _so_ dumb. What about Darryl?” 

“Let’s not wait for him,” Clay replies, tilting his head. “So, you coming or what?”

Clay knew him too well. “Yeah, yeah,” Nick stands, “let’s go.”

So with Clay leading the charge, the two jog around the school hallways, eyes peeled for their lanky friend. While Clay looks out the windows every few seconds, Nick quickly glances inside all the classrooms they pass. But even after they’ve scoured the whole building, there’s still no sign of George.

“Where _is_ that idiot?” Nick stops to catch his breath. They’ve been running all _over_ the place, but George had still stubbornly refused to show up.

“There’s…” Clay seems to be thinking, not even a hint of breathlessness in his voice. “There’s one more place… we haven’t checked. C’mon.”

Nick, confused as to _where_ they must’ve missed, follows after Clay’s lead. But as they exit the school building, Nick frowns. “Clay, where are we _going?_ ”

Clay doesn’t answer, veering his path towards the back of the school. Nick, having never explored that area before, warily follows after him. It’s mostly just grass, but there’s a neat line of bushes and trees close to the school wall.

Nick visibly winces. “Clay, what is that _smell_.”

“Gingko,” his clearly unaffected friend answers, jogging across the grass. He’s heading towards a group of trees that have grown closely together, their gnarled branches twisting together to form...

“A _canopy?_ ” Nick breathes, “No way. How did you even know this existed…?”

“George and I found it together before,” is Clay’s response. Nick stands awkwardly, wondering _Wait. Just them? Why wasn’t I invited?_ But before he can say anything, Clay has headed into the mess of tangled foliage, moving a single branch to reveal a sizable hole.

“... _Clay?_ ” A timid voice appears from inside the trees, and Clay visibly lights up.

“George, you’re here!”

“Oh,” George looks up in surprise, when Nick has followed Clay in. He thinks he hears a tad of disappointment in George’s voice. “You brought Nick too.”

“George,” Nick sighs, “Why didn’t you show up? We were looking _all over_ the school for you.”

George merely frowns, eyes turned downwards. “I— I dunno. I just… didn’t want to get in the way.”

“Of… _what?_ ”

George snorts, looking irritated. “Look, I’m… I’m not _ready_ for this, okay? I _can’t_ be your guys’ third wheel, and watch you two being all _gross_ with each other—”

“ _George_ ,” a crack of a smile shows on Clay’s face, “We’re not—”

“Like, I _know_ Bad is there too, and technically we’d both be third-wheels, but it’s different for _me_ , okay? You two are my— my best _friends_ , I _can’t_ just— just _be_ there, and deal with you two being all _mushy_ with each other—”

“ _GEORGE,_ ” Nick cuts him short, frankly feeling a bit sick of George’s rattling.

“ _What_.”

“We’re not dating.”

“You—” George blinks, snaps his head up in surprise. “Huh?”

“If you just checked your messages,” Clay continues patiently, “You would know.”

“I…” George’s mouth drops wide open and he scrambles for his phone, sliding his finger across the screen to unlock it. “I… oh. _Oh_.” For a thick moment, they all stand in awkward silence, waiting as George reads through his texts. “It _was_ a prank,” George concludes quietly.

“Yes.”

“You…” George groans, trying to hide his face in his hands, but an embarrassed pink still makes its way to the tip of his ears, “you guys are so _mean_. I can’t _believe_ I _believed_ you guys.”

And finally the tension was broken with the sound of Clay’s wheeze, and then Nick was laughing, and even George was chuckling (his face still buried in his hands). “You’re so dumb George,” Clay smiles fondly, poking George’s knee, “For trusting us so easily.”

“I can’t believe you guys,” George repeats.

“C’mon Georgie~” Nick grins, trying to gently goad George’s head from out of his hands. “It was just a little prank~”

“M-hm,” George replies, still sounding embarrassed, and Clay chuckles at his reaction. 

“Let’s just stay here for the rest of lunch,” he suggests.

“Darryl’s gonna be so confused about where we are,” Nick huffs in amusement, finding himself a seat on a nearby log.

“You guys just _left_ him?” George snorts, finally raising his head. “All alone?”

“Yup,” Nick snickers, “He’ll be fine! He’s a tough muffin.”

“This place…” Clay hums distractedly, surveying their surroundings, “No one else knows about it. What if we make it a place just for us?”

Nick thinks about it. Thinks about how they’re transforming a Dream and George place to a Dream and George _and_ Nick place. And he likes that. He likes it, when all three of them are together, and it’s not just Dream and George goofing off without him. It makes his heart rest a little easier, knowing their entire group is in the know.

“It’s a good idea,” Nick voices his agreement.

“Sure,” George blinks at them, looking awed for a reason that Nick doesn’t understand. “Just… for us.”

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“Nick! Your friend is at the door.”

“Oh, coming!” Nick calls back to his mom, scrambling from his room. No one had said they’d be coming to visit him, so it was probably just Clay. He’s proven wrong though, once he finds that the person at the front door is George. “What, _George?_ What brings you here?”

He looks a little out of breath. “I… I needed to tell you something.”

George doesn’t even _live_ in their neighborhood. And there doesn’t seem to be a car parked next to the sidewalk, either… “Dude, did you _run_ here?”

“Um… no?” 

Nick rolls his eyes. “Come on, I can get you a glass of water or something—”

“N-no, it’s okay,” George refuses, shaking his head, “I just needed to say one thing.”

“Then…” Nick is confused, “Why didn’t you just text me?”

“I… I dunno.”

Nick is now more bewildered than ever. “Um, so, what did you want to say?”

George looks nervous, but serious. “When you two did that prank,” he explains, “about pretend-dating. I— I realized that there’s something… I need to do.”

Now Nick is nervous. His palms are sweating again. “What do you mean?”

George takes a deep breath. “Next week,” he breathes, “I’m going to confess to Clay.”

The air seems to freeze around him. Nick blinks. Takes an involuntary step back. Fuck. _No_. This was all because of that prank. It had worked _too_ well. Nick shouldn’t have agreed to it, should have realized it was a mistake. Now it was too late. The dominoes were falling. Their friendship was slipping through his fingers like water.

“Why are you telling me this?” Nick whispers quietly.

“I…” George averts his eyes, and visibly swallows. “I don’t want things to get weird between us.”

It’s an unclear answer, but Nick thinks about the way George phrased it, really _thinks_ about it, and he suddenly gets it. The confession will happen in a week. By why next week? Why not now?

Because it’s a time limit, for Nick to make his move first.

George is giving Nick a chance.

“Of course not,” Nick replies hesitantly, “No matter what happens, we’re… we’re still gonna be friends, George.”

George gives a relieved smile, and nods. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Nick says back, the gears in his head already turning.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔥 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“Hey Nick.”

“Hey.”

“So… why’d you call me out here?”

Nick isn’t so sure himself. He watches as Clay sits down on the bench next to him, easily recognizing the familiarity in which his friend composes himself: arms drawn back, legs crossed, chest confidently pointed outwards. At this moment, Nick realizes he really _has_ known Clay for forever. Their friendship was one-of-a-kind.

And he really didn’t want to let that go.

Clay is starting to look confused by Nick’s silence. “Nick?”

“I had a question,” Nick replies.

“Hm?” Clay hums. “What about?”

“Are you…” Nick feels his throat constrict as he asks it, “Are you gay?”

Clay instantly uncrosses his legs, snapping his head in Nick’s direction. There’s a surprised expression on his face. “Am I… oh.”

The silence goes on for so long, Nick feels prompted to need to ask again. “Well? _Are_ you?”

Clay gives an embarrassed laugh. “Yeah, okay,” he sighs, “I guess I’m more obvious than I thought, huh?”

... _What?_

“You figured me out, Nick,” Clay shrugs nonchalantly. “You’re right. I did suggest the prank as a way to see if George likes me.”

Nick has to hold back his sputter, looking ( _praying_ ) for an indication that Clay’s joking. “Ah…” his mind is racing. That was _not_ the answer he had been expecting. 

“Sorry for not telling you,” Clay apologizes. “I hope you’re not too upset about it…?”

“N-no, of course not.”

“I couldn’t figure out any other way to do it,” Clay plows on, oblivious to Nick’s increasing panic. “There’s a lot of things that can rile a reaction out of him, but I’m almost positive it’s just George being George…”

Nick is too busy processing Clay’s words to respond. He called Clay out here, hoping he could do some mitigation, and now here he was, feeling more trapped than where he began. What was he even supposed to _do_ here? Nicely ask Clay to reject George’s confession?

...confess to Clay himself?

Nick doesn’t know how he feels about Clay. Maybe it’d be nice to hold hands with him more, maybe it’d be nice to hug him for more than just a few seconds at a time. Nick knows his friend is handsome, he knows he’s cocky, and stupid, and has the cutest freckled smile, and he knows his friend can do things to his heart that no other guy can, because Clay _always_ wins.

And maybe he won Nick’s heart too.

But Nick isn’t sure. Maybe it’s better that way, better that he doesn’t know for sure, because Nick thinks he’s already made a decision. It’s one that he can’t take back, and it’s one he might regret, but if he just thinks about it long enough, he’ll know it’s the right one. 

Because Nick would be lying to himself, if he said Clay was his only friend. Because _George_ is Nick’s friend too, even if he was Darryl’s friend first, and even if Nick hasn’t known him as long, Nick actually cares about George too. Even if he’s the source of so much jealousy that Nick thinks he might someday combust, George’s happiness is still important to him, as much as Clay is important.

“...and,” Clay sighs, drawing his ramble to an end, “I guess our prank only told us that he’s worried about becoming a third wheel or something.”

Nick nods somberly. “He’s such an oblivious idiot,” he jokes, but he doesn’t say any of the things he originally planned to say. He holds his frustrations in, and gives an easy smile when Clay snorts at his words. It’s actually kind of funny, that this — sitting next to his best friend, laughing together over crushes and whatnot — _this_ , of all things, was going to be the end of the line for him.

And for the first time in his life, Nick accepts his loss without a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :(


	6. End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And they all lived happily ever after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually considered making this the prologue to get people into the mindset of "Oh, so this your typical dreamnotfound fic, and everyone is happy!" But it spoiled too much, so now it's the epilogue instead, lol.  
> (Also a note, that Darryl's POV occurs before the prank happened, in case that's confusing.)
> 
> Enjoy the ending, of course, not without the knowledge of what's going on behind the scenes~

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ `(¯w¯)´ ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“I… I like him so _much_ Darryl, it’s _unfair_.”

“Well,” Darryl replies hesitantly, listening to George sigh over the voicecall, “Have you ever thought about confessing to him?”

“N- _no_ , I _can’t_ ,” his friend immediately denies. “He… he’d _never_ say yes, Darryl.”

“But he flirts with you all the time…?”

“Those are _jokes_ ,” George scoffs, “He does it to Nick too, if you haven’t noticed.”

Darryl _had_ , in fact, noticed, but he can’t think of any other way to convince the muffin to make a move. He’s been complaining about his feelings for months now, and while Darryl was always willing to lend an ear, it was starting to get a little bit concerning just how mowed-over George was over this issue.

“You should still think about it,” Darryl encourages. “I mean, we can’t know for _certain_ that he’d reject you, right?”

“Darryl,” George starts, “You’ve been friends with Clay for awhile now, right?”

“Uh, well, yeah, I guess so.”

“Do you know if he’s, um,” George hesitates, “...gay?”

Darryl thinks about it. He knows Nick and Clay had hung out a lot as kids, so much to the point where rumors were going around that they were together, but he’s fairly sure it was just a platonic bromance. “I dont know…”

George very audibly groans. “God, I _hate_ this. This is so _dumb_.”

“George,” Darryl replies gently, “Feelings aren’t _dumb_.”

“Well, _mine_ are,” George shoots back, sounding defeated. “I wish I could just get over him, Darryl. It _sucks_ having feelings.”

And Darryl isn’t sure what to say to that. He wants to both simultaneously help George accept the feelings _and_ have the feelings not negatively hurt him. But just how could he _do_ that? Darryl has had his fair share of crushes, but they were always little fleeting things, so it made them hardly applicable to George’s scenario.

Darryl just wants to help, and because he can’t give advice, all he can do is listen.

“Just give it some time,” Darryl responds, “and maybe things will get better, George.”

“...yeah.” The tiniest of sniffles. “Thank you, Darryl. For always listening to me.”

“You’re very welcome.”

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ 🔘-🔘 ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“George?” Clay’s voice had appeared, and George feels himself jolt as Clay’s face pokes into the hidden canopy. “What’re you doing here all alone again?”

“Oh, um…”

“It’s already been a week, George,” his friend frowns worriedly, “You’re not still upset over that prank, are you…?”

“N-no,” George fiercely shakes his head, feeling his face turn pink. He… he feels so _shy_ right now. The nerves are getting to him, tingling at his fingertips, so he drums them against his knees to get the feeling out of them. “Did Nick not come with you…?”

“No,” a shake of his head, “He stayed behind, this time…”

George feels his heart bounce around his ribcage. “And, he didn’t say anything to you…?”

“Um, no?” Clay looks confused, finding himself a seat next to George. 

Electricity is whizzing around his insides. _Nick didn’t confess_ , George thinks belatedly. He had thought for sure there was some crushing going on, with the way Nick constantly looked at Clay. He’d tried giving him a chance to say something (because if _anyone_ deserved Clay, it was Nick), but if nothing was going on, perhaps George had been wrong about the whole thing…?

“George? Are you okay?”

George steels himself. Today was the day. He promised himself, after he’d seen Clay and Nick holding hands, seen them openly flirting with each other, eyes only on each other. It had seared a hole into his heart, creating a lingering of bitter disappointment in his gut, up until they had revealed it was just a prank. Yet, the scene burned into George’s mind like a hot iron, and George realized his crush wasn’t just a crush anymore. To just _imagine_ Clay being with anyone else… George couldn’t _fathom_ it.

“Clay,” George starts, “I have something to tell you.”

His friend smiles, with that dumb grin of his, like he thinks George is about to tell a joke. “Oh yeah? What is it?”

George twiddles his fingers, wracked with nervousness. “I-I like you,” he mumbles, head tilted down.

“...hm?” Clay tilts his head, looking confused.

“I _like_ you,” George repeats, louder this time.

There’s a second of silence, and then Clay is bumping his elbow into George’s side, his soft laughter filling up the emptiness around them. “I like you too, George.”

“I—” The words get stuck in George’s throat, but he still manages to say, “N-not like that. I don’t just _like_ you, I… I _like_ like you, Clay.”

George peeks up, sees that Clay has frozen. Normally that’d be a bad sign, but there’s also an enormous grin on his face, stretching from ear to ear, and that gives George hope. And it’s a contagious smile, because even though Clay hasn’t said his answer yet, George is already smiling back.

Clay just has the prettiest smile.

“ _George!_ ” Clay wheezes, and his eyes scrunch up in that cute way it always does when he laughs, “You’re… you’re serious? You’re actually not kidding?”

“Yes,” George is still smiling, “Yeah, I… I like you, Clay. I like you a lot.”

“I… oh my _god_.” Clay is still laughing, his face turning pink. “George, I… I like you too.”

They blink at each other, huge idiotic smiles on their faces. “Oh,” George breathes.

And they crash into each other’s arms, enveloped in each other’s embrace, and George is just _warm_ all over and— he’s just _happy_. He’s so happy.

Because for the first time ever, George feels like he’s finally won.

◈◆◈◆◈◆◈ ・◡・ ◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

“Have you two lovebirds _kissed_ yet?” Nick shoots, and Clay wheezes when he sees George’s cheeks flare up with embarrassment.

“Oh yeah,” Clay plays it up, “But only with our socks on.”

“C- _Clay!_ ”

Clay rolls away in laughter as George tries to mock punch him. God, teasing George is just so much _fun_. He was just this endless source of amusement that Clay couldn’t get from anywhere else, not even from watching other people’s expressions when they lose against him for the hundredth time.

Though, a mix of George losing to him for the hundredth time was definitely something hilarious on its own.

“You two are the cutest muffins,” Darryl laughs, moving his piece around the board. They were all currently in Clay’s house, playing monopoly around a coffee table. Just like they had planned, the four of them were still hanging out even over the summer.

“We are not _cute_ ,” George sputters in denial, which only makes Clay return to wheezing.

“No no,” Clay wags his finger, “Don’t try to deny it, George. You _are_ _sooo_ cute. The absolute _cutest_ —”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Nick facepalms as George hides his face in Clay’s front, “You guys are so _gross_ , holy hell.”

“It’s your turn Nick,” Darryl passes the dice.

“You’re just _jeaaaalous_ that I get George’s attention all for myself,” Clay cackles, playfully messing up George’s hair.

“Am _not_ ,” Nick retorts, and he throws his dice. He threw it a little hard though, and they all go sliding off the table, one even managing to bounce underneath the couch. “Oops.”

Clay snorts at the accident. “George, go grab the dice from under the couch.”

“What? Why _me?_ ”

“...Because you’re closest to it?”

“But you have longer arms?!”

“ _George_ ,” Clay wheezes a little as he gets an idea, “I’ll give you $500 monopoly dollars.”

“WHAT!” Nick slams the table, “ _CLAY!_ That’s not fair?!”

“But he’s always the closest to winning,” Darryl points out, “Shouldn’t we just let him put himself at a disadvantage…?”

“Got it,” George announces, obediently placing the retrieved dice on the table.

“Aww thanks Georgie~” Clay coos, pressing a chaste kiss to George’s cheek. His friend blooms pink at the contact, a sheepish smile stretching across his face.

“Wow Clay, I didn’t know I got _two_ prizes for retrieving the dice.”

“It’s a tip,” Clay chuckles, starting to hand his dollars over, but George doesn’t immediately take them.

“Can I…” George seems hesitant, his ears turning pinker, “Can I just exchange all the prizes into kisses?”

Not expecting the question, Clay feels himself blush. Nick collapses backwards, laughing loudly from Clay’s expression, while Bad’s hands are cupped over his cheeks in delight.

“Oh my _goodness!_ ” Bad coos, “That is _so cute_.”

“I… I don’t even _need_ the dollars though,” Clay manages. “What’s it in for me to trade them?”

“I-It’s an investment,” George mumbles, “Because I can pay it back.”

Nick only laughs more hysterically at George’s reasoning, and Bad looks like he might just about die of overdose from sweetness. Clay ignores them, smiling at George’s bold deal. He’s come a long way from being shy and flustered all the time, and even if he still hasn’t won a single time against Clay (other than winning Clay’s heart, of course), George is still growing all the time. And that’s what Clay loves about him — the fact that even when victory looks hopeless, he’ll still relentlessly try and continue to push forward while giving it his all.

“You drive a hard bargain,” Clay smirks, pressing another kiss to George’s red face, “But you’ve won me over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Nick manage to move on? Or does he still harbor some bitterness? If you put yourself in his shoes and look closely at his reactions, you might have some sort of clue...
> 
> I've read so many DNF stories where Sapnap is just the wingman for the two lovebirds, and while he's always depicted as a supporter for the relationship, we never really actually KNOW if he harbors feelings for one (or maybe even both!) of the parties. I wrote this as sort of a tribute for Sap, because let's be real: there isn't enough Sap appreciation fics out there. And while I know this wasn't the "happiest" ending for him, the point of it was to just remind the readers that stuff we don't know about can always be going on behind the scenes.  
> (ooh it's kind of like Spinel, if any of you know who that is)
> 
> I was surprised by how many of you related to Sap's experiences, and if I were him, I'd say I'm very thankful for all the empathy you guys were sharing :') Just, thanks so much for the support and encouragement you guys gave him, he really deserves it all and so much more <333
> 
> Anyway, thanks again so much for reading to the end! And if you enjoyed, consider reading some of my other stories? I swear not all my fics end with unhappy endings xD Have happy dreams~!

**Author's Note:**

> Come support me on my tumblr! https://peppdream.tumblr.com/  
> Thanks for reading! Have happy dreams ^//^


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